Panetta, the former CIA director, told the Senate Wednesday that there is a Defense Department office that works with movie producers. But he insisted that no one in the department released any unauthorized material.

Republican Rep. Peter King of New York has argued that the CIA and Pentagon jeopardized national security by cooperating too closely with director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal. The two won Academy Awards for the motion picture "The Hurt Locker."

Last month, King cited documents obtained by Judicial Watch in a Freedom of Information Act request. He said the filmmakers received "extremely close, unprecedented and potentially dangerous collaboration" from the Obama administration.